The Slender Man
by DaniellaChryselle
Summary: The Slender Man has always been a popular myth. But what if that myth turned out to be a reality? And what if everyone got him completely wrong? -Preview image used with permission from /art/142-341162896 -
1. Chapter 1

-FOREWORD: This is a story that I wrote for myself, and was also for experimenting with writing styles. I apologise if it isn't to your liking, but please do enjoy all the same!-

Dank moss coats the ground; slender trees towering around you; the full moon illuminating the fog; icy wind prickling at your neck.

Imagine this now. This is what Edward experienced as he walked through the [REMOVED] woods. IPod plugged in, earphones throbbing, twigs snapping beneath his feet, heading back home after a long day of work at [REMOVED]. Out the corner of his eye, he spots an unusual colouring on a nearby tree. Approaching it, he sees that it is a piece of paper, crudely nailed to the tree's bark. He tears it off the nail and reads it, holding it under a beam of moonlight. It features a roughly-drawn stick figure, surrounded by the word "NO" repeated in capital letters. He shoves the note in his pocket, and continues walking.  
Get home, shove some chips in my mouth, and watch YouTube videos until I fall asleep.  
That was Edward's plan. However, when he finds the second note, he becomes vaguely intrigued. This note reads "HELP ME", and is underlined several times. He looks around as though expecting to find a lost child. He sees nothing. He takes the note, and continues walking. He sees no notes for several minutes, so he stops looking. He finds that his search for notes has caused him to stray from the faintly-marked path, and he narrowly avoids walking straight into an ebony wall. He looks up at the wall, and removes one earplug from his ear. He looks down either side of the wall. It fades into the fog; neither end is visible. He turns around and walks back where he came from, with one earphone swinging from his neck. He walks only a few steps before stopping cold in his tracks. Icy chills, short of breath, eyes strained open.

Before him, He stands; Black suit, red tie, long white fingers, blank white face. Edward screams. From a black mass on His back, numerous tentacles emerge. They wrap around his wrists, and wrap around his ankles, lifting him several feet into the air. One goes straight towards Edward's screaming mouth. His eyes are filled with tears of fear; his throat is tearing from the screams. The tentacle slides into his mouth and slithers down his throat like a python. The screams become muffled as his throat is blocked. The tentacle is indefinitely long, but more than adequate for filling Edward's throat. It pushes onwards as Edward protests, writhing and twisting as he is denied his life's breath. Expression blank, body still, He continues sliding his tentacle down Edward's throat, through his stomach, into his intestines. His eyes roll back, the sensation causing him to retch and choke. After 10 more seconds, Edward becomes limp, foam running from his mouth. The tentacle slides quickly out of Edward's mouth again while the others release his wrists and ankles. He falls to the ground, motionless. As quickly as He arrived, He vanishes with a spurt of static.


	2. Chapter 2

Headline: "Teen found mysteriously dead in [REMOVED] woods- No marks on body"

Interview: Jacob [REMOVED], on Tuesday [REMOVED], at [REMOVED] AM.

"Hey bro, someone got killed by the Slender Man, I reckon!" I looked up from my cereal, raising an eyebrow.  
"Slender ain't real, bro," I grumbled, milk dribbling down my chin.  
"'Would be fuckin' rad if he was though. Look, his body was found with two of the Slender pages even."  
"It was a prank, you retard." My brother Tom read over the newspaper article again then stood up from the table.  
"I'm going hunting for those pages, mate! Gonna look great on YouTube, don't ya reckon?" I was hardly interested.  
"Whatever."  
But hey, seriously, he kept his word. That night, he was out in [REMOVED] woods, with me tagging along to film him for his fucking YouTube channel. He played the Slender games, y'know, the shitty ones where you grab all the pages and you're chased by a tall man and shit? That one. Here Tom was, actually thinking Slender Man exists, now that some poor cunt got killed in the woods with pages in his hand. Bullshit. Anyway, we're out in the woods and he's doing his fucking "Hey hey hey everyone! It's TomatoGamer here! Today I'm in the [REMOVED] woods, playing the real-life version of Slender!" thing. Stupid shit he did when he introduced his play-through vids. So while he's doing that shit and commentating, I'm holding the camera and following him around. He had a flashlight, and he was looking at all the trees for pages. Fucking bullshit, I thought it was.

That was until he actually found a page. He did a whole "Oh my god" on the camera, and picked the note off the tree. Can't remember what was on it, like some sketchy trees or something. But he's going all ballistic about it, so I just keep the camera on him and follow him and shit. He finds another page and gets all loopy about it again, laughing about how the Slender Man should be on his ass. Look, he was fucking excited, okay? How was I meant to fucking know? So he finds another page on this big-ass rock. A few minutes later, there's one on a wall. That's when shit went down. I heard static, like what the fuck did some hobo have a radio out in the woods? Next thing I know, there's this fucking huge man standing next to the tree behind Tom. I was filming him from the front at the time, and I lost my shit. Pissed my pants. So Tom laughs and turns around, and sees this motherfucker. He was twice as tall as my dad, twice as fucking scary too. Like if my dad got himself pissed and was given a chainsaw. _That _scary. No, I don't have family issues. Okay, well, now I do. But anyway, this motherfucking giant: His fingers are like fucking claws. And his face? Yeah, his lack of a fucking face. He had. No. Fucking. Face.

So he has this tentacle shit on his back, right? Not kidding. Tom drops the pages, probably lost his shit. Totally frozen. I've still got the camera in my hand, like I'm mesmerised. This was serious shit, gimme a break! So these fucking tentacles whip past Tom like...well...fuckin' whips. He gets all these bad-ass cuts on his face and arms and he's totally losing it. I can't move since this was so fucking creepy. A tentacle wraps around each shoulder, and around his thighs. I swear there was an infinite fucking void of tentacles on this motherfucker's back. So when he does that and Tom's just screaming like all fuck, he tightens the tentacles and Tom's fucking arms and legs come off. Like just fucking poof. Off onto the fucking ground. Blood shoots everywhere, Tom's fucking lost it. Like seriously, fucking seriously. Not joking. So Tom was being held up by one of those fuckers around the chest, since his fucking legs are on the fucking ground. That asshole just keeps that fucking blank expression as he tightens his grip on Tom's chest. I hear his fucking ribs crack. I saw them pop out of his chest. His screams turn into gurgles, and his eyes are all fucking white and he's dropped on the ground like a piece of shit.

I'm totally paralysed right there, nothing but a fucking weak whimper from me. That motherfucker looks at me. Don't ask me how, but he fucking looked at me. When his tentacles start up again, I fucking leg it. All my energy came back, and I legged it. But then I heard the static behind me. Fuck that static, it haunts my nightmares. The tentacles whip out beneath me, tripping me up. I fall face-first on the ground. Before that fucker could get a hold of me, I dropped the camera and bolted. Yes sir, the camera is still in the fucking forest. You think I was just like "OH BETTER GET THE FUCKING CAMERA, MIGHT WANNA SHOW IT TO MY FAMILY"? No fucking way! No fucking, shitting way! I was getting the FUCK out of there! That motherfucker is REAL! No matter what you do, don't collect the pages!  
YOU HEAR ME? DON'T COLLECT THOSE FUCKING PAGES!

Headline: "Brother of second 'Slender' victim found hung in bedroom. Note left: 'DON'T COLLECT THOSE F-G PAGES'"


	3. Chapter 3

-The opening music to Channel [REMOVED] plays then reveals a woman standing behind a news report desk-

"Good afternoon [REMOVED], I'm Julia [REMOVED] and welcome to Channel [REMOVED] news. Last Sunday morning, a body was found in the [REMOVED] woods with no trauma wounds and with two mysterious pages held in the victim's hand. An autopsy later revealed that the death was caused by suffocation. Two days later, another victim was found in the woods with all limbs removed and ribs broken. Police have now fenced off the area from the general public, and are standing by for any signs of hostile activity coming from within the forest. Both victims were seen possessing peculiar pieces of paper in their hands at the time of death, and sources suggest that the mythological figure known as the 'Slender Man' may be to blame. On the scene is reporter Mary [REMOVED]. Over to you, Mary."

"Thanks, Julia. I'm here at the site of [REMOVED] woods, apparent habitat of the 'Slender Man'. I'm here with local teen Josh to get the lowdown on the Slender mythos."

"Slender Man is a fictional character who was created on the Something Awful forums. He's described as a tall man in a black suit with tentacles coming from his back, a red or black tie, and a white, blank face. In the computer game created that was based off this myth, the player is required to collect 7 notes from a dark woods, and as they collect these notes, they are chased by the Slender Man."

"Thank you, Josh. Police are here along with several hundred citizens watching the woods. As you can see, a fence has been put up to prevent the general public from entering the area. Slender enthusiasts are hoping to get a glimpse of the mythological creature, while others are hoping to prove the rumours wrong. Police are currently suspecting a Slender Man enthusiast with a sick mind is hiding within the trees, stalking and murdering citizens. In just a few minutes, armed policemen will enter the woods in hopes of capturing the killer."

"Two policemen have entered the woods, and so far there has been no news from them. The police back at the van are keeping in contact by radio, making sure nothing is happening…Wait, we have something. The policemen have found a note…" –Mary is seen talking to a policeman, and listening to his handheld radio- "They have found two. Nothing is happening so far." –A long pause, followed by gunshots from the woods and loud screaming is heard from the radio, followed by static- "Contact has been lost with the policemen. The citizens are panicking, and nobody is emerging from the woods." -Birds have been unsettled from the trees, and are flying away- "Stay tuned for more after the break."

"Welcome back, I'm Mary [REMOVED] and I'm here at the supposed Slender Man murder site. Two policemen have entered the woods and have supposedly been killed after gunshots and screaming was heard. I'm here with Officer Kyle to get the update on what will happen now."

"This is, uh, unexpected. We didn't expect the officers to be killed, uh, but they may still be alive. The radio has lost connection, and uh, the gunshots from the woods definitely confirm that they tried to shoot the killer. Um, we're not going to send any more officers into the woods, but we uh, have a remote-controlled dummy that will be controlled by the helicopter above." –The camera cuts to the police helicopter in the sky, and then back to Officer Kyle- "We will send it in and see what happens."

"Thank you, Officer Kyle. I know our viewers are anxious to see what we find."

"As you can see behind me, the dummy has entered the woods. It won't be too long before we find out what's inside." –The camera cuts to a view from the helicopter, loud whirring and rushing wind muffles the voices of the policemen inside. Voiceover of Mary- "The helicopter is keeping track of the dummy via GPS, and is making sure it is all in working order." –Camera cuts back to Mary, and then zooms in on dummy driving out of the woods- "Wait. The dummy is driving out of the woods, without the policemen's commands. It appears to have a note taped to its chest." –Camera zooms back out, and follows Mary to the policemen who seize the dummy- "What does the note say, officers?"

"It's written pretty roughly, and says 'Leave me alone'."

"It looks like our 'Slender Man' has decided that he wants solitude. What will you do now?" –The policemen look at each other, mutter in low voices, then one retreats to the van-

"We will write a note back to it, telling it to surrender. We will capture it and take it into custody; but if it refuses, we will kill it."

"An interesting development." –The policeman returns with a note, and tapes it to the dummy. The dummy is driven back into the woods- "It's only a matter of time before we find out if the Slender Man will adhere to our request."

"The dummy has returned, but it looks like the Slender Man has issued a challenge to the police." –Camera pans to the dummy with the note still attached, but scribbled over is "COLLECT MY NOTES"- "Will police accept the challenge to collect the Slender Man's notes? Find out after this brea-"

-A deranged man runs from behind the fence, charging towards the forest, screaming "I'LL COLLECT YOUR NOTES! I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!", backed by the fearful screams of the citizens. Mary turns in surprise-

"It looks like a man has accepted the challenge. Police are not making any attempts to stop him. Find out after the break what happens!"

-Mary seems unsettled. She fondles with the microphone in her hands, and constantly looks over her shoulder. When she realises the camera is on again, she jerks into a stiff position. Her voice quivers and she sounds unsure of herself-

"Welcome back, and this is Mary [REMOVED] reporting live from the Slender Man murder site. The man who accepted the challenge and charged into the forest has been confirmed dead by the observing police helicopter. Screams were heard along with loud static noises from the woods. I have a feeling we're not dealing with something of our planet here." –Her words become incoherent, and a male reporter takes the microphone, coaxing her away from the camera. He adjusts his hair, and looks at the lens-

"My apologies, viewers. In any case, police have advised citizens not to go needlessly venturing into the forest, as it is confirmed to be a hopeless exercise. Further attempts to communicate with the 'Slender Man' have been futile, with their notes being written over with the instruction 'Collect my notes'. Police have once again urged the public not to accept the challenge, and refuse to do so themselves. The helicopter has warned over loudspeakers that the Slender Man must surrender, or they will drop grenades on the site. The public have protested against the action, arguing that the woods need to be preserved, and others arguing that this unknown being should not be remorselessly killed."

-The camera cuts to a young man, enthralled-

"This is amazing! I've always wanted to see something like this!"

-The camera cuts to a woman, crying and holding her daughter (?) in her arms-

"My son was killed by that monster, and I don't want anyone else going in there. It's bad enough that child Tom took it as a joke."

-The camera cuts to the reporter-

"An update- A girl has run into the woods despite protests from her family and police. Nothing has happened as of yet, but we can only assume she has accepted the challenge, and will proceed to collect the notes and be murdered. The helicopter is now desperately urging that the girl leave the woods immediately."

-The camera points to a middle-aged girl, emerging from the woods with a black cross pendant in her hand. The reporter speaks over the footage-

"The girl has emerged unharmed, and is spouting the same phrases over and over again."

-The girl's voice-

"Leave him alone! Go away from this place! He wants to live in peace! If you don't invade his home, he won't hurt you! Leave him alone!"

-The camera cuts back to the reporter-

"She seems to be urging the public and police to leave the woods alone. Officer Kyle, what do you think of this?"

"We will not be leaving these woods until the murderer is caught. However, I strongly believe that citizens should heed her message and leave the premises"

"Thank you, Officer.


	4. Chapter 4

I was on my knees, shaking. My arms were rattling, and the metal crucifix in my hands was cold against my skin. The bag on my back had slipped down my shoulder. My breaths were raspy, taking in the icy cold air around me. I could have sworn that when I was outside the woods, it was warm. I had just finished my summoning chant, and my eyes were tightly shut, my head bowed underneath my raised arms. I felt the wind blow my hair across my shoulder, and I slowly raised my head. When I opened my eyes, I saw him. He was right in front of me. He was the height of two men, maybe 4 or 5 metres tall. I never imagined him to be so big. But everything else was just as I'd heard; blank face, long white fingers, black suit, red tie, and a huge mass of tentacles on his back. They all looked like they had minds of their own, with some of them trailing along the ground, some floating beside him and some rising above his majestic height. I was speechless. I had no idea the ritual was going to work. But here he was, staring down at me with his hollowed sockets. Everything had fallen silent. I couldn't hear the crowd, the wind, or the helicopter which I knew was above us. It was as though he had trapped me in a small section of his world, shielding me from humanity.

"H-Hello," I managed to stammer. My voice was hoarse and shaking. He was _terrifying_, but he was amazing. He stood still for a while, his tentacles gently swaying behind him. After staring at me for what felt like a few minutes, he took out a page from his back with one tentacle. Messily written on it was the word "YES". I stared at it, my mind racing to understand what he meant. I quickly thought back to the chant I had just recited.

'_Slender man, Slender man, dressed in dark; your suit and tie. Should my words to you displease, bid me now to die. I offer you my body and soul, my skills and labour too. I want to be a servant of yours, to do your bidding and obey your orders. There is no payment, no favour I demand, but I request only one thing: That you protect me from society, shield me from humanity. Don't let those outside the woods find me, let me live in solitude with you. If you do not want to grant me this, I will wholly commit myself to you regardless. I only wish to be your servant, and nothing else I ask. Slender man, Slender man, if you accept my offer, please tell me now." _

"S-So, you accept?" I squeaked. His head lowered. I thought it was a nod. Almost. He pulled his page into the void on his back, and then reached out with another tentacle. He grasped the dangling chain of the crucifix in my hands, and I quickly let go of it. It hit my knee as he pulled the chain up, and put it over my head. He let go, and lowered his tentacle. The crucifix was now around my neck. I opened my mouth to speak, but he proceeded to take out a series of notes.

"TELL THEM TO LEAVE ME ALONE."

"GO AWAY."

"I WANT TO BE LEFT IN PEACE."

I locked my eyes onto the notes as he put them in order in front of me.

"W-What if they don't leave?" I asked, sheepishly. He stayed still for a moment, and then pulled out another two notes.

"IF THEY LEAVE ME ALONE"

"I WON'T HURT THEM."

I nodded in acknowledgement, then, grasping my crucifix, I got onto my feet and bolted out of the woods.

I can't remember much of what happened next. I was yelling at the crowd and my head was spinning: I had summoned the Slender Man, and he had appeared. Not only that, but he had accepted my proposal. The police were urging me to come back behind the fence. I didn't hear any of them. I just kept repeating my message until most of the crowd had backed away. I yelled until my throat was sore. When the police had finally driven away and the helicopter had retreated, I walked back into the woods, unsure of what awaited me. It then occurred to me that I had no idea how to get back to the Slender Man. 'Do I summon him again?' 'Do I just keep walking?' 'Do I call for him?' As these thoughts were going through my head, I found a note on a tree. It was just a blank note. I looked up, and there was another note stuck a few trees ahead. I smiled in relief as I realised that he was guiding me back.

It took a very long time before the notes stopped appearing. When they did, I found a huge, black-stone mansion barely concealed by trees. I was gobsmacked. This wasn't just the size of a big mansion, it was specifically _tall_. I walked up to the spired gates, putting a hand on the cold iron. They didn't budge. That was when I heard sharp static behind me. I squealed and jumped to turn and see what was behind me. Slender Man had teleported behind me. I sighed in silent relief, but I started shivering again. Every time I shivered in his presence, I felt horrible. I was so devoted to serving him now, but I was still so scared. He towered over me, staring down as though he was expecting something. I raised my head to his.

"They've all left, except a few kids at the fence," I told him quietly. He stayed still, and then took out a note.

"THE POLICE?"

"Yes, the police are gone," I confirmed for him. He lowered his head, and put the note away. He then turned to the gate, and pulled it open with two tentacles. I backed away so I wouldn't be hit by it, and watched it creak open. He stood aside to let me through, and I bowed my head as I sheepishly walked into the property. I didn't look back at him as he closed the gates behind me, but I heard his footsteps as he followed me. Those footsteps gave me _chills_; the Slender Man was never said to actually walk. I only knew of his teleportation, but I guess it was stupid of me to assume he didn't walk. As I continued to walk closer to the mansion, I heard the sharp static again, and Slender Man teleported in front of the doors. This made me jump (again), but I didn't make any noise. He was facing the doors, and he inserted a large key into the lock in one door. After a loud "clunk" was heard, he withdrew the key and pushed the doors open. Once again I walked through as he stood over me, and he closed the doors behind me. My breath was stolen from me when I got inside.

The inside of the mansion was antique and beautiful, like something from the Victorian era. Black chandeliers lined the long, tall hallway, and the floor was dressed in a decorative carpet in deep maroon. The whole hall was dark, and as Slender Man turned on the lights, I found the thing that scared me the most: The walls were covered in painted trees. It was as if he had brought the woods inside the house. He walked ahead of me as I gawked at my surroundings. After I didn't follow him for a few seconds, he paused, and took out a note saying

"FOLLOW".

I snapped out of my trance and immediately obeyed, running down the hall to catch up with him. The height of the roof was just enough for him to comfortably walk through it, and it was wide enough to give his tentacles freedom to swirl and dance beside him. In context with the house, he almost looked like the height of a normal human. As I pondered this, he led me to the end of the hallway, where it split off in two directions. He turned to me, sending shivers down my spine again. I adjusted my bag on my back as I looked up at him. He took out a series of notes, and arranged them in front of me.

"YOUR ROOM IS BEHIND YOU"

"MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME"

"ASK IF YOU NEED ANYTHING"

I nodded in acknowledgement, and bowed to him.

"Thank you, Master," I said to him. He paused, the tentacles holding his notes going still. When he didn't respond, I looked up at him. "Are you alright?" I asked quietly. _'Damnit, I've messed up already,'_ I scolded myself in my mind. After a few moments, his tentacles reanimated and he took back the notes. He replaced them with one that said;

"SLENDER MAN"

I studied the note for a few seconds before realising what he meant, and I bowed again.

"I'm sorry, Slender Man," I apologised. He nodded, and turned to go down the other hallway. As I stood up, a thought occurred to me. "Slender Man, wait!" I spluttered, putting a hand out before he went too far. He stopped suddenly, his tentacles swirling around behind him. I held my breath, waiting for a reply of some sort. None came, so I assumed his stopping meant I could continue. I picked my words carefully as I spoke. "S-Sorry… I just… I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but I was just wondering… Why did you accept me?" His tentacles slowed down drastically, as though he was thinking carefully about my question. My heart started racing. _'I shouldn't have said that,'_ I moaned to myself. He stood there pondering for quite a while before a few of his tentacles reached into the black mass on his back, and took out a few notes.

"YOU DIDN'T LOOK FOR MY NOTES"

"YOU WENT STRAIGHT TO FIND ME"

"YOU DIDN'T COME FOR A SCARE"

"YOU WANTED ME"

"I APPRECIATE THAT"

For the first time since I had encountered Slender Man, I felt warmth grow inside of me. I had pleased him even without knowing it, even before seeing him.

"Okay," I replied in a small voice. I wasn't quite sure what to reply. However, he seemed content with my response as he pulled his pages back in, drawing out another one.

"ANYTHING ELSE?"

My head suddenly spun with all the questions I wanted to ask him. _Where do your pages come from? What happens to the bodies of people you murder? Why do you live here? Where did you come from? Did you build this mansion? _ Instead of asking any of those, I just settled with a soft

"No, that's all." He nodded, withdrawing his note and continuing on his way down the hall. I smiled, relieved that he approved of me and that he had welcomed me here. I turned down where he indicated my room was, and went into the only door I found. The door was strangely human-sized, and unlocked. When I went in, I found myself in a quaint little bedroom.

There was a single bed in the corner with a bedside table next to it which had a small lamp on top. There was a painting of _The Last Supper_ hung on the grey wall, and the floor had an intricately-designed carpet, swirling with gold, green and red. There was a bookshelf filled with many books, and a small desk with a light and a chair. It was a simple room, and it felt kind of homely, but eerily creepy at the same time. I put my bag on my bed, unzipping it and taking out a few pieces of clothing, my diary, some toiletries and my iPod. I put everything in the drawers of the bedside table except for my diary, which I put on top. After I finished putting everything away, I stood up and turned around. I shrieked, falling backwards onto the bed. Slender Man had managed to come into my room without me noticing, and he was sitting on the floor. I'd never seen the Slender Man sit before. As I quickly tried to calm my racing heart and my hasty breath, I sat up and gasped an apology. Slender Man didn't respond to that, and instead took out a note.

"DO YOU NEED MONEY?"

This question struck me as odd. My breath had slowed down, and I read over the note a few times.

"I guess not, if I'm staying here," I said quietly. He took the note back, and replaced it with another two.

"I WILL PERMIT YOU OUT TO BUY THINGS"

"IF YOU WISH"

Before I could think of a response, he took out two more notes.

"YOU SAID YOU WANT TO AVOID SOCIETY"

"I WILL PROVIDE A DISGUISE FOR YOU"

I slowly nodded, realising he was referring to my request of being protected. It looked like he was going to oblige.

"I didn't bring any money though," I guiltily replied. He took all four notes back, and tossed five wallets onto my bed.

"HELP YOURSELF," his next note said. I looked at the wallets in surprise, picking one up that had landed in my lap. Before I could say anything else, Slender Man teleported away in a flash of static. The door slammed behind him, and I jumped (_again_). I opened the wallet in my hand, and looked at the ID. It had a photo of an acne-ridden teen with messy blonde hair, brown eyes and a disgruntled look. Next to him was the name "Edward [REMOVED]". _'Edward [REMOVED]?'_ The name rang in my head. Where did I know that name? Then suddenly, it clicked: Edward the kid that was killed by Slender Man a week ago. I hurriedly opened the next wallet, finding the face of "Thomas [REMOVED]", followed by the two wallets of the policemen who had gone in the forest just today. The last one belonged to "Christopher [REMOVED]", the man who had run into the woods before I went in. I shuddered. _'Does Slender Man keep the bodies of the people he kills,'_ I wondered. Trying to ignore the fact that these were dead men's wallets, I took whatever money they had left inside. All-in-all, I ended up with about $530. I didn't dare to look at what else was in the wallets, so I put them under my bedside table and lay down on my bed to write a diary entry.


	5. Chapter 5

She is so timid, so frail; so fragile. If I look at her, she starts shaking. She's terrified. What did I expect? Aren't they all? She is strange, though. She blindly offered herself to me, despite the fact she has never seen me in reality, only in myth. My myths must be misleading. Maybe they depict me as some handsome rich man who hires dozens of maids.

I recall later that evening, when she emerged from her room. Instead of waiting for her to come to me, I teleported out of my room and into the hallway. She jumped again. She's always doing that.

"H-Hello," she stammered. I wanted to tell her to calm down, to stop acting as though I were a monster. Instead, I just looked at her. She doesn't know I'm looking at her either. It's hopeless, really. She bit her lip, probably waiting for me to say something. She then said, "I was just wondering if there was anything you wanted me to do for you." That's right. She wanted to serve me, so I had to give her something to do. To be honest, there really is not much to do in this manor. I thought about the chandeliers. I suppose they may have gathered a bit of dust. I scrawled this onto a note with my tentacles, and showed it to her. She looked up at me. "The ones in the big hall?" Yes, there are no other chandeliers in the entire manor. I nodded. "Right away," she said, walking down the hall. I don't know where she thought she was going. I took out a duster and held it out to her. Of course, I couldn't just say "Here, take this". But somehow, she knew what I was doing. She stopped and turned back to me, her cheeks going red. "Right, sorry," she hurriedly apologised. You're fine, really, you don't need to apologise. She scurried back and took the duster from me, walking back down the hall. Again, I don't know what she thought she was doing. For simple amusement, I decided to stand there and watch her. She looked up at the last chandelier, standing there pretty hopelessly. She shuffled to the side. She shuffled to the other side. I laughed. I can see her now, writing in her book: 'Dear diary. Today I got laughed at by the Slender Man because I can't dust chandeliers.' She didn't hear me, of course.

After she stared helplessly at the chandelier for a few minutes, she turned back to me. I already knew what she was going to ask. "Do you have a ladder I could borrow?" That struck me. I wasn't expecting her to ask for a _ladder_. What a naïve, sweet girl. I walked down the hallway towards her, knowing how much she dislikes my teleporting habit. She looked a little unnerved, as she often does. I don't think she was expecting this. I stopped next to her, and curled a tentacle around her ankles. I felt her pulse increase tenfold. I wrapped another tentacle around her waist, and under her thighs. I lifted her up to the chandelier, keeping her securely held in my tentacles. Her cheeks went redder, as though she was ashamed of being helped by me.

"Thank you," she said apologetically. She then proceeded to dust the chandelier, and I shifted to help her get to all the sections. After we had moved to the other end of the hall and all the chandeliers were clean, I lowered her to the floor. She was shaking uncontrollably when I let her go, and she promptly fell over. How clumsy. I whipped out a tentacle to catch her, and she quickly apologised for her clumsiness. She held tightly onto my tentacle as she used it for support, standing up slowly. I felt a shiver run down my back when she did that. When she stood up, she looked at me as though she knew. I felt my heart beating quicker. I was _nervous_. I pulled my tentacle back, turning away from her. Just so she didn't feel useless, I scribbled a 'Thank you' onto a piece of paper, and held it out to her. I think I puzzled her. She didn't reply anything audible, but just made some sort of a shaky mutter. I immediately teleported back into my room, and sat on my bed. I was shaking so violently that my bed started shaking. I looked down at my hands, and then crossed them across my chest. It was almost 8 o'clock. I could soon start patrolling the forest. I could get my thoughts in order, get out of this house; get away from _her_.


	6. Chapter 6

I stood in the hallway, idly dusting at the rims on the walls. I hoped the Slender Man hadn't noticed how awkward I was. The feel of tentacles wrapping around my body was just…wrong. I had read too many stories, seen too many pictures to know what usually results from a naïve girl and a tentacle monster. I shuddered, shifting a few steps to dust some more. Without warning, Slender Man appeared at the end of the hall. Since he was only a few feet away from me, I jumped in surprise and dropped the duster. I hurriedly whispered an apology as I bent down to pick up the duster again. When he didn't make any sort of response, I looked up at him. His eyebrow ridges were furrowed into a frown; he looked _angry_. I shivered as I stood up again, looking up at him.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him, sheepishly. He glared at me for a while before taking out a coarsely-written note.

"I'm going on patrol. Behave." The sudden sternness in his voice made the hairs on my neck stand on end.

"Yes sir," I replied in a small squeak. He dropped the note and teleported away. I bit my lip so hard that it bled. Slender Man was scary himself; an _angry_ Slender Man was horrifying. But what did he mean by "behave"? I didn't even figure it out until it was too late.

I walked to the end of the hallway, putting the duster down on a small dresser. I looked down the opposite direction from my room. There was a tall door on the right, and an even larger metal door on the left. My common sense had flown out the window by now; I was ridiculously unnerved by those hollow, glaring eyes. His image was imprinted in my head as my footsteps echoed noisily on my way to the metal door. When I reached it, I noticed it had no doorknob. Not even a lock. I put my hands on it. It was as cold as ice. Taking one nervous glance over my shoulder, I pushed with all my might, and the door creaked open. I cringed at the creaking as it resonated loudly throughout the mansion. Eventually, when the door came to a halt, I listened out. No static. I heaved a sigh of relief, and shimmied through the crack of space I had made with the door. As soon as I went inside, the stench of rotting flesh flooded my senses. My ears started ringing, and I felt my stomach churn. I should have stopped there, but I didn't.

Ahead of me was a stone staircase, leading into the darkness below me. I pushed myself to go down them. They were huge, each step requiring me to jump down onto the next. I didn't like this, not one bit. But I thought, since this was my house now, I had every right to know what was inside.

I shouldn't have cared.

When I reached the base of the staircase, I was confronted with huge, iron bars. Behind those bars was a bloodstained stone room, filled with corpses. There were wooden crosses on both sides of the room, with half-rotted corpses hung from them. At the back of the room was a machine. It was an enormous machine with a gaping mouth, bare cogs and levers, rusty metal panels and a conveyer belt. I was absolutely _gobsmacked_. I didn't know how to react. I have no idea how long I was down there before my common sense kicked in and I ran back up the stairs.

Wheezing out clouds of mist, my arms and legs shook as I heaved the metal door closed. When I heard (and felt) the loud _THUNK_ of it shutting, I collapsed on the floor to catch my breath. My thoughts were blurred; I had no idea what to think of what I had just seen. Were they the Slender Man's prisoners? Was it an old jail cell? Did Slender Man _enjoy_ torturing people? These thoughts combined with the head spinning and lingering stench of death made me vomit on the floor. Damn. My body shuddered as I coughed the last few drops of bile onto the floor. I'd be in _huge _trouble if I didn't clean it up. I wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve, and stood up with my knees knocking together. I stepped cautiously over my stomach contents and towards the opposite door, in hopes of finding a mop and bucket. I took hold of the doorknob (which I could barely reach), and pushed the door open. The smell that filled my nostrils was not of rotting corpses, but of leather and coal. The room was pitch black aside from the cupboard right next to the door, with a box of matches and a candlestick atop it. I picked up the matches and lit the candle, taking it down from the cupboard. My footsteps fell silent as I walked onto the straw-like carpet, and I looked around. The room was _huge_. I clung to the right wall, and saw nothing of interest along the entire way. I turned left when I reached the end of the room, and a small desk was illuminated. I was starting to wonder what this room even was…  
My question was answered when I found a long bed along the left wall. Chills crept down my back like a hoard of tiny spiders. This was _Slender Man's_ room. I raised the candle to see the wall beside the bed, and now, I wish I never did. All over his wall were drawings. Drawings like the ones in the forest, except there were more. There were hundreds. Many of them were repeated, and some of them were the typical ones found in the games. Some of them were different.

"LET ME OUT"  
"GO AWAY"  
"I'M SCARED"  
"I'M ALONE"  
"SO LONELY"  
"HELP ME"  
"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO"  
"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER"  
"DON'T HURT ME"  
"ALWAYS WATCHING"  
"ALWAYS LISTENING"  
"OBSERVING"  
"FOLLOWING"  
"dying"

The last note I saw was the one that shocked me the most. There was only one, and no matter how many times I scanned the wall, I only saw the one. The page was black, and the word "dying" was written in lower-case, white writing. All the other notes were on white paper with black writing and drawings on them- but not that one. I got up onto Slender Man's rigid bed, shuffling on my knees towards the note. I put one hand on it, keeping the candle a safe distance away from the papers. It was _leather_. I ran a hand down the note to confirm this, and looked up at the other notes above it. Maybe Slender Man contained people in the cell, and took their notes of insanity to use them for wall décor? God knows how a prisoner got his hands on a piece of leather, but somebody had, and they had been dying. "dying". The picture imprinted itself into my mind.

That was when I heard the rustling of paper. I froze, my eyes darting across the wall. Did I leave the door open? Did a gust of wind blow? I slowly turned my head to the darkness behind me. I couldn't see anything. I turned my body around, and raised my candle to the darkness. It illuminated the white, expressionless face of Slender Man. I screeched as soon as the flame revealed him, and fell back on the bed, dropping the candle. Much to my surprise, the candle extinguished itself as it hit the mattress, putting us in complete darkness. My heart was off like a machine gun, and stars began to fill my vision. With a faint "hiss", the room was dimly lit up by the candelabra that Slender Man was holding. He was frowning again. I missed that the first time. My lips moved open and shut, shaking against each other as I tried to think of something to say. Slender Man was patiently waiting. The blood drained from my face and my vision faded.  
My unconscious body slumped against the wall.


End file.
